Nordic’s next generation nRF54L Series powers new line up of Chipolo tracking solutions
A wallet with a Chipolo CARD in it
Renowned tracking device company, Chipolo, has introduced a suite of new premium tracking solutions powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s next generation ultra-low power nRF54L Series SoCs, and compatible with either Apple’s Find My or the Find Hub network on Android devices.
The ‘Chipolo POP’ and ‘Chipolo LOOP’ trackers are lightweight and compact devices designed for tracking valuables or locating missing items such as keys, bags and luggage. The ‘Chipolo CARD’ meanwhile comes in a credit card-sized form factor designed to be easily stored in a wallet or passport pouch, for example. Nordic’s nRF54L15 SoC provides robust, long range Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity between the trackers and the user’s smartphone. The Chipolo LOOP also integrates Nordic’s ultra-small form factor nPM1100 power management IC (PMIC) to supervise battery charging over USB-C and to improve the battery life in ‘ship mode’ during product distribution.
Once a tracker is connected to a smartphone, users can find missing or misplaced valuables through the Apple Find My or Find Hub app, and the private and secure networks of hundreds of millions of Apple or Android devices around the world. The Chipolo LOOP provides a 125 dB loud ring, while the POP and CARD trackers provide a 120 dB and 110 dB ring respectively, making it easier to locate misplaced items.
nRF54L Series SoCs deliver range
Nordic’s nRF54L Series SoCs feature a high link budget 2.4 GHz radio offers a maximum receive (RX) sensitivity of -96 dBm (1 Mbps Bluetooth LE) and a maximum transmit (TX) output of up to 8 dBm, and a total link budget of >104 dBm, enabling up to 90 m of Bluetooth range for the Chipolo POP, and up to 120 m of range for the LOOP and CARD devices. From the Chipolo companion app, users can also set up additional finding features like ‘Call Your Phone’ and ‘Out of Range Alerts’ (for Android).
“When we were selecting an SoC for our Chipolo POP, LOOP and CARD trackers, the most important thing was its ability to implement simultaneous support of Apple Find My, Find Hub and Chipolo functionality on one device,” says Jure Zdovc, the VP of hardware engineering at Chipolo. “Nordic’s nRF54L15 SoC’s 1.5 MB non-volatile memory (NVM) and 256 KB RAM provided the large memory capacity we required, while still keeping our product pricing in the range of our previous devices.
“Ultra-low power consumption is also a key competitive advantage for asset trackers. With the nRF54L Series SoCs, we are confident we can deliver highly competitive products.”
The Chipolo POP employs a CR2032 coin cell battery providing users up to 12 months battery life between replacement. The Chipolo LOOP and CARD both employ a rechargeable cell that provides up to 6 months battery life between recharge. The nRF54L Series SoC’s radio, combined with an efficient MCU, enables lower power consumption for typical Bluetooth LE applications and use cases.
nPM1100 supervises battery charging
The nPM1100’s integrated battery charger in Chipolo LOOP is designed to charge Li-ion and Li-poly batteries with a selectable termination voltage supporting cell chemistries with a nominal voltage of 3.6 and 3.7 V, respectively. It includes battery thermal protection and automatic selection of three charging modes: automatic trickle, constant current and constant voltage. The maximum charge current is resistor selectable from 20 mA up to 400 mA.
“We have been working with Nordic solutions for a long time now,” continues Zdovc. “The great support, available documentation and easy to use development tools like the Zephyr-based nRF Connect SDK has always ensured a fast time-to-market for long battery life products like our trackers. Ultimately, it’s just fun to build stuff with Nordic.”
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